Gifted and Talented
by PoodlePop
Summary: Collab with Samstar1990. A safe haven for those with abilities, that's what they said it was, a school for the Gifted and Talented. At first I thought it was true, that it was a place we could all be safe from those who wanted to take advantage of us, but corruption comes in all shapes and forms, and just because you're in a special school doesn't make you safe from it. ALL CHARAS
1. Chapter 1 My Initiation

**A/N: Okay~ So welcome to a colab by me and Samstar1990, we hope you enjoy, this first chapter is by PoodlePop and with Antonio as the central character, the next will be by Samstar1990 and have Lovino as the central character. Enjoy~~**

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**Chapter 1: My Initiation.**

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"Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo."

The small 10-year old boy trembled before the council, hands clinging to the edge of his sleeves. He'd just got back from school and hadn't managed to get changed out of his uniform before the woman had arrived. Antonio remembered how distinctly she smelt of perfume, like a meadow of flowers, with beautiful blonde hair and a motherly smile on her face. She now sat up with the council, still smiling down at him whilst the elderly woman in the centre addressed him.

"Pay attention, dear."

"Yes ma'am!" Antonio's eyes snapped back to her, shaking again, still unsure as to why he was here.

"You're 10 aren't you? When's your birthday, dear?" Her eyes pierced the small Spanish boy's, wrinkles creasing as she scrutinised him.

"Uhm… Mi cumpleaños es en doce de marzo…."He fell back into his native tongue in his nervous state, "I-I mean…" he looked up apologetically to the elderly woman, hoping he hadn't irritated her further by speaking Spanish.

"The twelfth of march, it's okay, I understand…" She smiled for a moment, eyes retreating back to the book that was in front of her, scanning over the details through her reading spectacles. "Do you know why you're here Antonio?"

"Uhm…"

No, he had no idea why he was here, his mother seemed happy to see him going, seemed both relieved and happy for him, but now he was here he was getting more and more of the feeling that this was bad, or that he had done something bad. Looking back down to his shoes he kicked them nervously against the wooden floorboards.

"24th July, 3 years ago, you stopped your younger brother from snatching a toy from you, you pinned him to the wall for an hour before your parents caught you playing happily playing by yourself, your brother on the other hand was crying his eyes out…"

Antonio's eyes snapped back up, swallowing, they knew about his abilities! Was it going to be like what his papa had said when he left? Was he going to be thrown in a car and taken away to a loony house? That had made Mama cry…

"28th of March, 4 years ago, you made a boy who couldn't swim jump into a pond because he threw your bag in there."

That was the stupid kid's own fault, and the blame had entirely been put on him. He'd been bullied by that kid for weeks. His stuff would be stolen, or he'd be pushed over during playtime, once after gym he'd found his school trousers in the bathroom, soaking and forced to go home in his gym shorts.

"10th of August, 6 years ago, you threw a tantrum and made an ice cream man give you a flake on your ice cream cone free of charge."

Red rushed to the child's face as a small chuckle escaped the old woman's thin lips. He was 4 at the time! He wasn't aware he could do those things! He hadn't meant to! He couldn't even eat the flake after that; he gave it to another child because he had felt bad.

"A-Am I in trouble?" Antonio asked timidly, looking at the floor. He hoped he wasn't in trouble, he really hoped he wasn't. He hated being in trouble, being in trouble made him cry because that meant people were going to yell at him. "I-I didn't mean to do it, honest! I was just upset—"

The older woman held up a hand, silencing the small boy as she continued.

"9th of November, 1 year ago, you made a businessman jump out of the way of a car that he was unaware was approaching him"

Antonio had only really shut his eyes when that happened, it was so immediate and all he wanted was for it not to happen as his mother gasped and covered his brother's eyes.

"31st of August, 2 years ago, you pulled your brother's ball out of the fast running river when he dropped it over a bridge."

Antonio frowned, that one was different, that one wasn't about controlling other people, so they really knew _everything _about him…

"1st of January, 7 years ago, in the early hours of the morning your father returned home drunk, your mother approached him, they got in to an argument and you snuck down out of your bed worried when you heard a scream… you single handily stopped your father in his tracks from… well, quite the brave one when you were little weren't you?"

Antonio's brows crinkled as he looked up at the old lady and the woman who smelt of flowers again with confusion, was he not being told off? He was confused. Why were they listing all the times that he'd used his powers? He didn't understand. The blonde lady smiled warmly at him, as the others all watched the elderly woman. What were they deciding, why was he here?

"U-Uhm… Senora Book Lady, Ma'am…" Antonio shifted impatiently, "I… I'm sorry if I did s-something wrong… r-really I am… I.. I guess I can stop… I'll never do it again, I swear!"

"It's okay, Antonio… You haven't done anything wrong." Now the old woman was smiling at him, she seemed kinder than he had first seen her, her eyes were no longer piercing but warm and sparkling, bright blue like the ocean. Her hair, though whitened with age had hints of earthy brown, making it warmer, and glows in the low amount of sunshine that was in the room. She leaned back in her chair comfortably and her smile remained, "You are a gifted child and clearly in the ownership of a kind and honest heart, even with the mistakes you've made in life, mistakes that any child makes and learns from."

Antonio watched in a strange mix of confused awe.

"Here, Antonio, we run a school exactly for children like yourself; gifted and good children. We can help you learn the lessons that you'll need not only for life, but to control your abilities and to help build our community we've made for ourselves." She closed her book, placing the reading glasses down. "That is if you want to be part of our school dear."

The small Spanish boy of age 10 stared at the elder woman, surprised at the offer, he turned and looked at the other council members, all of which were now smiling at him, waiting for his answer.

"Do I get to stay with Mama?" He asked, remembering his mother and baby brother back home.

The older woman regarded him with a soft look, "There are means in which we can let you stay with your mother for the first couple of years whilst you get used to the new school, it won't be a problem."

Antonio bit his lip, looking around again before nodding.

"Well then Antonio, welcome to your new school."


	2. Chapter 2 My Fucking Initiation

His feet beat hard against the tarmac as he crossed over the road in the late afternoon, panting heavily as the sun turned the ground orange in a warm glow disappearing over the horizon. He was tired; he was so tired, running since at least noon, too afraid to take transport. There were too many people on the buses and trains, too many possibilities for him to hurt them. Crawling up on the worn boards of the bus stop bench he tilted his head upwards and watched as a few early peeking stars wormed their way into the orange hue.

Face wet with fresh and seemingly endless tears, he shakily took a small piece of card from his coat pocket and looked at the address on it.

"If you ever get upset and need someone to talk to come here"

The words written in messy writing on top of an image of a school was given to him by his father's friend shortly before he left. That night wasn't the nicest either, his mother and father were arguing and he had fled and hidden himself in the bushes in the garden. When the man with gentle eyes and warm smile found him instead he gave him the card with the parting words that the future is full of hard ships and sometimes all it took was a friend to see you through.

"Che" he hiccupped a little as he read the address again and stuff the card away "I don't fucking deserve a friend" He brought a hand to his face and rubbed the eye a little, his last hope just didn't seem to exist, he'd looked everywhere and he couldn't find it.

"Fucking old man" he brought his knees up to his chest and cried into them "you lied to me…I'm all alone"

Night drew in and the Italian child shivered as he sat there. Even when the wood next to him creaked under the weight of a newcomer did he look up or acknowledge them.

"Hola?" the newcomer spoke "are you lost?"

When a hand pressed firmly against his shoulder did he take notice jumping up and scooting as fair along the bench as he could staring wide eyed at the other. The other was a male around thirteen years old, tanned skin, green eyes and a mop of brunette hair that curled and spiralled wherever it wanted, and by the greeting most likely Spanish.

"If I were you I'd stay as far away from me as possible" He croaked through his dry throat as he cried into his sleeve hoping the other would leave.

"Now why would I do that when a cute little boy is crying" the other laughed "I'm Antonio and you?"

'c-cute?' he stumbled feeling his heart race. No he had to calm down, or he'd be in trouble "I'm Lovino…and I mean it! P-people who get close to me just end up hurt"

"Oh?" Antonio tilted his head and Lovino felt the other's eyes all over him, judging him. "You don't seem dangerous… just lost"

"Yeah?" he mumbled looking to the ground feeling the blood in his cheeks burn. He fiddled his hands over and over each other not looking at the boy by him "just don't come too close. I don't do well with people close to me"

Antonio chuckled a little behind his hand and shuffled over "But I saw you were upset, I don't want to just leave you here if there is anything I can do to help"

"Well you can't!" he yelled panting a little before realising what he was doing hugging himself "No one can help me! Only give me false fucking hope with places that have phoney fucking addresses!" After a few moments when he realised what he had said and how true it was his bottom lip trembled and he just cried openly. Usually full of pride he felt he had hit a dead end. Antonio looked at the Italian next to him as he cried heart strings tugged at by the sight and without thinking launched forward and embraced the other gripping him tight to his chest.

Lovino cried out going bright red and caught by surprise of the other heart racing. At that moment the bin that had been next to bench launched into the air in a large explosion that sent the metal up and down rolling along the road in front of them. Antonio felt Lovino look down and shuffle a little in the other's grip.

"I told you it was dangerous to be near me"

"You did that Lovino?" he asked shocked as he felt the other try to escape him "wait don't run!" he cried out as the other jumped from the bench and turned

"Why? I am nothing but a fucking monster!" he yelled "wherever I go no matter how much I try someone always gets hurt!"

"But I understand what you're going through!" he blurted out without thinking concern for the other if he ran off. Lovino faltered a little staring at the Spaniard with narrowed eyes

"How?" he asked "how could you possible understand?"

"I'm just like you…" he whispered "I can do things that can be considered a danger and different from others" both boy's eyes met

"Prove it"

Antonio sighed as he raised his hand. Lovino swallowed a little, what could the other possible do that was anything like what he was going through. Suddenly what felt like a shock came through him as his limbs moved on their own and he walked towards the other he felt terrified and his eyes shot to the other

"w-what are you doing?" he asked voice cracking as it came from his throat, Antonio seemed to blink and his expression morphed into guilt hearing the fear in Lovino's voice, the hand came down and the Italian felt full use of his limbs return to him as he was drawn close.

"I can manipulate the body Lovino" he whispered "I can do things that are considered terrible too, but I'm being taught how to use them…I can show you where you can learn how to control it"

Lovino looked up into the large emerald eyes of the Spaniard, feeling like he was staring straight into his soul.

"Fine" he muttered going red again "show me bastard, not like I have any other options"

When Lovino saw the school he had to take a second look, Antonio was there grinning like an idiot waiting for the other's impression of the buildings that made up the school. The card was torn from his pocket as he looked at it then back up at the school

"This was the place I was trying to find…" he muttered in disbelief. Antonio was suddenly looking over his shoulder at the card and laughing

"Oh really? Small world huh Lovi?"

"My name is Lovino and nothing else" he grumbled "now show me where I can talk to a head or something…"

"Oh~" Antonio laughed pointing at a building in the middle as he walked towards it "we don't have a head, we have a council"

"A council? That seems over the top for a school?" he saw Antonio laugh and hold the door open for him, going in and ignoring the other male completely. There was a woman sat at a desk who smiled at them and stood up

"You must be Lovino Vargas" she spoke surprising him and causing him to turn narrow eyed at the Spaniard who threw up his hands in some form of surrender

"I had nothing to do with this" he smiled "the council have a weird way of knowing when we turn up"

Lovino sighed and looked to the woman who was standing by a large staircase that coiled off to the right. He felt nervous and scared as his approach the woman "just up there?" he asked pointing and she nodded

"Good Luck Lovi!" he cringed hearing the other call as he made his way up stair by stair. When he came to the top he pushed open the door onto a large room.

"Lovino!" a man with messy wild hair and bristles along his chin rushed forward and hugged the boy tight cracking a few bones into place he didn't even know weren't in place. "You found us! Nonno is so proud!"

When Lovino's feet hit the floor again he stumbled and rubbed his back giving the man a dagger like stare "you are not my fucking Nonno bastard, you are my dad's friend!"

"Si si. But it wouldn't hurt to call me it once in a while Lovino, we are like family!"

He had to admit the over the top bastard in front of him was definitely more of a family to him than anyone but now he was started to suspect it had something to do with what was occurring now…

"So what the hell is going on here bastard?"

'Nonno' laughed and turned taking a book from a stern looking man with long blond hair "well now you are ten years old Lovino it's time you were invited to our school for gifted children like yourself.

"I'm not gifted, I'm a monster" he muttered looking away from the man who looked a little saddened by the boy's remark

"That's all in the eye of the beholder Lovino, you have a lot more potential than you realise, and we know everything about you after all"

Lovino looked up confused as the book was opened up and Nonno read aloud from the page.

"November 10th, 6 years ago. You were stuck in traffic with your mother and father and grew angry at the amount of red lights the car was getting stopped by and caused a wide spread blow out of traffic lights causing chaos"

Lovino cringed, yeah he remembered that, he was his second violin lesson and he was excited. They had been running late and he was scared they would stop his lessons if he turned up late, and it felt like the whole world was out to get him. He remembered crying loudly after that when he thought he was going to miss it completely when his dad lifted him and his instrument onto his shoulder and left his mother sat in a car. He made the lesson in the end and tired, even if he failed a little to make dinner for the family to say sorry. He suddenly realised he was being watched by the council and looked up blushing embarrassed. The man continued reading from the book.

"May 24th, 2 years ago. You caused the school roof to explode and cave in during a sports day"

They knew about that? His eyes grew wide and he tried to look somewhere else eyes darted all around the room. That was the first day he realised it was his fault. They were all out on the field and one of the other boy's had been bothering him all day and when he tried to tell on him the teachers told him to stop being a spoil sport and just have fun. That's all they ever seem to say to him, never believing him and ignoring his attempts to get their help. He was angry and he cursed and was punished for it by the teacher. Stood against a tree on the field he fought away tears and stared at the school willing it to blow sky high. He hated it so much; he just wanted it all to go away. He felt his heart near stop when the explosion ripped through the building.

"That was an accident" he whimpered tears present in his voice. He saw a few of the council chat to each other.

"And barely 12 hours ago Lovino" Nonno spoke and Lovino paled. How did they know about that? "You were angry at your brother for not taking the blame for breaking something and lashed out burning him"

Oh kill me now, he begged. He remembered it vividly being so soon. Mama's vase breaking because Feliciano had run into it. Her coming in as he attempted to pick up the pieces, she put 2 and 2 together and made 16 shouting at Lovino who looked at his brother begging him to come clean but all he did was look at the floor. He lashed out and punched him but the scream was not that of a small bruise. The skin blistered. He never meant to hurt his brother; he never meant to do anything.

He was crying this time looking up at the council "I get it! I'm a fucking disgrace, is this judgement before death or some shit?"

A page on the book was turned and Lovino shook his head, eyes wide, he didn't want to hear anymore but the man parted his lips.

"September 15th, 7 years ago" he smiled warmly "there was a terrible storm whilst your parents were out that blew the power in the house. You used your power to turn on the lights so your brother wouldn't be scared"

Lovino was shocked, the memory was hazy but he did recall a fast hitting storm when his parents went to the neighbours over the road for a moment but he didn't know he had powered the light. Although he did remember wishing for the light fairy to come…

"December 25th, 1 year ago. On your way home from my house the family car hit black ice and skidded uncontrolled towards the river. You blew a tree to fall in the path so the car wouldn't go down"

He swallowed and nodded dumbly. A night he didn't want to remember.

"Oh and the several times you have had headaches, you caused a small spark that stopped the tightness of the muscle and eased it"

Lovino looked up and the man dumbfounded. He could do that? And why the fuck was that important anyway? When the book closed he hugged the boy again and smiled.

"Now Lovino you ready to start school or not?"


	3. Chapter 3 The First Day

**Gifted And Talented**

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**Chapter 3 - The First Day**

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"Would you like some orange juice and a biscuit?"

Antonio looked up at the receptionist with a pure smile on his face, he was sat outside the council room and scuffing his unpolished shoes on the floorboards as usual. He was familiar with the receptionist here, a woman in her early 20s, one of the old students at the school who'd graduated a term before he'd arrived, and she was a small petit build and had long wavy brown hair, just like his mama back home.

"No, Gracias, I'll just wait, he shouldn't be much longer."

She smiled and nodded in acceptance of his wish, going back to file paperwork. She was happier than usual today, happy like the day he'd first arrived, but maybe that was because he wasn't in trouble when he came to the council room for once.

The doors opened, there was councilman Romulus with his hand on a rather bewildered looking boy.

"Lovi~!" Antonio leapt up, rushing over to the boy and hugging him, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up for a second before a hand was placed on Lovino's shoulder.

"Calm down Lovino, we don't need any more explosions." The councilman choked, his low chuckle reverberating around the room. Lovino turned and glared at the man, it was then that Antonio noticed the red rimmed eyes and sticky cheeks.

"Lovi? You okay? You look like you've been crying…" Antonio frowned as he pulled back for a better look, Lovino's cheeks flushing as he did so, looking around the room and avoiding Antonio's gaze. Before Lovino could justify his appearance with a feeble excuse Romulus cut in, ruffling Antonio's hair and changing the subject.

"Perhaps you should give Lovino some space, not everyone is so used to being met with such enthusiastic and… such an intimate welcoming party…" His eyes crinkled as he smiled fondly, "Besides, I think Miss Mei might have a heart attack if Lovino ends up blowing up one of her vases…"

As though the idea had just struck her the receptionist leapt up in fear for the life of her flowers, for without their vases they would wither and die. She glared at Antonio, as if daring him to step out of line and be the murderer of her precious flowers. They chose to quickly depart the room, heading through into the school corridor as Romulus handed Antonio a small badge whilst Lovino took in his surroundings.

"Okay, I'm trusting him to you Antonio, he's joining our beautiful academy but I'm afraid this dear lamb has been spooked already today, and will need somewhere to stay for the night if you'd be so kind, I know you still have the sleeping bags from the last time Francis and Gilbert decided to not sleep in their own rooms." He grinned knowingly as Antonio feigned innocence on the situation. Romulus laughed a little before letting his tone return to that of a serious parent. "Share with him the rules of the school, the system, the usual old stuff." He waved his hand nonchalantly, "See you in classes, lad."

Antonio looked back at the young Italian boy as he leaned closer to the window, trying to peek out onto the grounds, when caught at this Lovino folded his arms and scowled, turning his back on the Spaniard.

"So Lovi~…" The tanned brunette began, approaching the 'timid lamb' "You're joining the school?"

"W-Well… I-I mean… I-It looks like I don't have a choice…" He grumbled, trying to pass it off as nothing,

"That's silly, of course you have a choice; you have a choice to come here or not." He smiled, finally coming to stop next to Lovino, "Here, how about you stay at my dorm tonight, then you get to spend your first night at the Academy in company, with a friend, si?"

"A friend?" Lovino blinked up at him, before frowning and looking down. "I don't know…"

"I know you're worried about your power and that you might be scared about coming to our school… I was… But-" Antonio sighed, watching Lovino closely. He looked so scared, and with a power like his Antonio wasn't surprised, whilst he regarded his own as scary Lovino's was just plain destructive, he must hate it. "But, at least let me help you to get used to it here… I promise I don't bite"

The Italian scrutinised the older boy, eventually nodding. He had no other choice; he didn't exactly fancy spending the night alone or heading back home, besides maybe it wouldn't be so bad, maybe… maybe he might be able to get on with Antonio.

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But on second thoughts maybe not.

"So uhm, is there anything you want to know? Because I can tell you. I can tell you anything you want and/or need to know, just tell me and I'll tell you!"Antonio was grinning, sat cross legged and bouncing a little with excitement as his mouth ran at the speed of light in that idiotic Spanish accent. "You want to know about the dorm rooms? Don't worry you don't have to stay here yet if you don't want to. When I came here first I stayed with mi madre and hermano for a long time, this is actually my first year on the school grounds. You see they give you this little device so that you are given immediate travel back and forth, 'no excuse to be late' they told me but of course I kept forgetting my books so I was still late and-"

"You… lost me at the beginning idiot…" Lovino watched Antonio, for the past 5 minutes all he'd been hearing from him was noise.

"Oh! Lo siento… when I meet someone new… I… I get kinda excited, haha." Antonio laughed sheepishly, rubbing his head as he talked to the Italian boy sitting on the blow up bed in his small one bed room, scarcely furnished with a desk, TV and wardrobe. "But… en serio… I can tell you anything you need to know."

"W-Well… uhm… I dunno… Is it – er – n-nice here?" He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, feeling very out of his bubble in the boy's room.

"Si! Next question!"

"Idiota you can't just say next question! What am I supposed to say? I don't know what to expect… Here I am, thrust into this stupid new school after getting in to trouble with my family… I've been told that I'm not the only one in the world with strange, freakish abilities! I have no idea what this entire situation means!" The boy was panicking; Antonio could see it plain in those shifting hazel eyes. Of course it didn't help that the lights in the room had begun to flicker, he was pretty sure that the Italian was feeling very jumpy now.

"Uhm… Lovino?"

"What? D-don't look at me like that! I know! I know I'm a freak! I know that my power is just a horrible dangerous burden and that I don't deserve to be looked after by anyone! I just- I just-!" Lovino was shaking now, the tv beside the Spaniard beginning to flicker.

Antonio could see the situation getting drastically worse. If he pushed Lovino he'd only end up panicking more and no doubt the lights would blow completely. Now, he didn't know the Italian personally yet but he was pretty sure that in the state that Lovino was in as soon as the lights blew he would jump and no doubt panic more in the darkness that they'd been plummeted into and next thing he'd no doubt know would be that the tv would blow up and the sudden light and loud noise would lead to the entire **ROOM **being blown up. No doubt one thing would lead to another and the boy's panicked state would escalate things into blowing up the entire school!

And it would all be Antonio's fault…

He had to calm Lovino down.

"I-It's okay, Lovi…" He smiled, his mouth curling in a less enthusiastic but modest and comforting way. "I-I was just wondering if you wanted to call it a night? I can give you a tour in the morning properly… so you don't have to worry about anything else tonight…"

Lovino stopped shaking, staring at Antonio, taken aback by the fact he didn't yell at him or press him more. "Y-You mean… go to bed?"

"Si, after all, I'm tired, you're tired… we should just get some rest before tomorrow, and then I won't be the only one who can tell you what happens around here okay?"

The Italian nodded slowly, calming down as the room fell into silence save for the occasional sniff.

"I-I get the bed though."

"Si, you can have the bed."

Antonio settled into the blow up bed that night, smiling with the knowledge that he'd just avoided a major catastrophe tonight and made sure that a 10-year old Italian boy didn't get even more upset. He was now at his new school and would be able to find an actual purpose for his powers, rather than being afraid of them. The feeling glowed in his chest, making his sleep that night calm and undisturbed. He was happy that he'd been able to help the crying lost boy today.

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The young Spanish boy woke up like clockwork the next morning. The school routine worked into him already, making him awake at bang on 7am that day. It took him a couple of seconds to get the hang of his surroundings, especially because he couldn't exactly recall why he was sleeping on the blow up bed, whenever Francis and Gilbert stayed over he _made sure _they stayed on the spare bed, especially after the last time they'd slept in his. So why was he sleeping down on the blow up bed.

Sitting up, he found he remembered everything as soon as he saw the sleeping form in his actual bed. Peaceful, with his chocolate hair falling over his face like silk threads, was the boy he'd met the night before. Lovino Vargas, a boy with extraordinary abilities, just like him, now a new student at their academy. He was so cute when he was at peace; his lips slightly parted and breathing deeply, a small hand clenching the fabric of the pillow for comfort. It was beyond adorable.

He sat there for a long while, just looking at the boy whilst he slept. It was only when the bells of the clock tower chimed and Lovino stirred slightly that he bothered to try and wake him.

"Lovi… Lovi you need to wake up"

"Mmnnn… not now… sleeping… go n' ask…. Mmama.." Lovino grumbled, turning slightly in the bed. Antonio laughed a little.

"No~. Come on Lovi, you have your first day of school today." He grinned, propping his chin on the mattress with his arms as he waited for the boy to wake up.

"Don't wanna…!" He grumbled again, still clearly half asleep.

"Lovi… Don't make me go and get some cold water…" Antonio warned, though there was no real threat behind it, shocking the boy awake could be dangerous.

"Fine… Fine I'll get up." Antonio let out a breath of relief when Lovino actually sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Where 'm I…?"

"You're in my dorm room, remember?" Antonio got to his feet, suddenly remembering the time and rushing to grab his shirt and jumper. "You're at our school now."

"Oh… Yeah…" Lovino yawned loudly as he remained sat on the bed, watching the Spanish boy now struggle to hop in to his trouser legs.

Slowly he remembered the previous night's strange events that lead him in a whirlwind to Antonio and this school, it had all happened so fast, and now that the reality of everything had set in and he had stopped panicking, he wasn't sure what to think about it all. Was Feliciano okay? Did his parents even know where he was? Was he going to be going back soon, or never? What was he even supposed to do now he was here?

"Lovino?"

"Yes?" The Italian snapped, it was only then that he felt the static he'd brought up and remembered he needed to stay calm.

"I was just wondering… if you were going to get ready to go?" Antonio looked worried, keeping his distance understandably, as closeness seemed to freak the Italian out.

"Oh- Uhm… Si…" Lovino calmed, standing and stepping over the blow up bed before realising besides the stuff he'd had yesterday – which he had worn to bed – he didn't have anything to change into. He vocalised this concern with Antonio.

"Oh! Si! Of course… You haven't received your package yet!" Antonio hit himself on the forehead, cursing himself over how obvious it was and how he hadn't noticed. "Uhm… Best I can do is that… I lend you a couple of my things, I have plenty spare but… well I doubt that you'd be able to fit into anything from the waist down." He laughed, before running over to his wardrobe and throwing a jumper and shirt to the bewildered 10 year old. "Those should do."

Lovino dressed himself quietly, still wearing the jeans from the night before. "I look ridiculous."

"You look adorable." Antonio stated as fact heading over to the door as Lovino pouted at his reflection in the mirror. "Come on we have to go."

Before they knew it, they were in the cafeteria, grabbing their breakfast and heading over to one of the many elongated tables, Antonio hopping over the bench and feasting on his bacon and eggs straight away.

"So uh, idiota… you've never actually told me how this works… this school I mean." Lovino toyed with his food, twisting the fork in the beans. "I mean, I haven't seen any others my age… in fact it looks like there's barely enough to fill one class."

"Si, that's because there is. When it comes to normal classes it's pretty much self study, they give you the basics on where to go and you receive tutoring but because everyone is in the same class everyone is working on different levels." Antonio stated as though it was obvious and to be expected. "It's quite different from primary school; here they do things completely different."

"And what about our abilities? Do we just do normal classes here, kept out of the way of normal schools just because we're all different?" Lovino frowned, it didn't sound so right when he thought about it like that.

"Oh no~ We have classes for our abilities. A lot of the lower levels have theirs together, because it's easier to teach a group of them. Whereas the higher levels like me have to have private tutoring."

"Levels?" Lovino cocked his head to the side, finally deciding to eat some of his breakfast.

"Oh si! You don't know about that… uhm… you see him over there, the boy with the pony tail, the Asian looking one?" Antonio asked, pointing to a boy over Lovino's shoulder surrounded by food and holding a book in his hands, he was being bothered by a larger boy with short blonde hair who seemed to be dressed for winter despite the warmth. Lovino nodded. "That's Wang Yao… or Yao Wang… I don't know. He has the ability to conjure food if he wishes to; well I say if he wishes, he has to have a visual image of the food he wants to create in front of him, so a cook book or something like that. He can't just create from his imagination, that's why he's a Level 1. If you're a level 1 you have basic conjuring abilities, you can conjure anything from a visual aid."

"Right… doesn't seem too bad… why is it the lowest?" Lovino asked, watching as the blonde boy seemed to make something of his own appear, a small flower that he put in Yao's hair whilst he wasn't looking. "Does he have the same kind of power?"

"I'll get to that in a minute- huh? Ivan? Oh no. He's a Level 2, see how he doesn't have to have a visual aid? He can just pull plants, any kind he wants, out of thin air, from his own memory or imagination. Level 2s don't need a visual aid to conjure." Antonio smiled as the Italian asked him if it just went up in levels like that, he shook his head. "A Level 3 is an entirely different thing all together; they have a very specific conjuring power… like…. Look! Over there!" He pointed.

Lovino followed his finger to see a blonde mop of hair over the expression of a boy who was grinning directly at them with a particularly creepy aura about him. "What's so special about him?" Lovino turned, not enjoying watching him.

"That's the Romanian kid, Vlad, you probably want to steer clear of him unless you fancy blowing up the entire school… He likes to give people quite the scare… has a habit of conjuring your worst nightmare before you know it." Antonio laughed sheepishly, "A level 4 is…" He looked around the room for any sight of the Level 4 he was very well acquainted with. "Well A Level 4 has a low level manipulation power."

"Manipulation power?"

"Si, well, one of my friends here, called Gilbert, he's the white haired kid so you won't miss him – he has the ability to control and talk to animals, occasionally he's tried to conjure one, but the best he got is a yellow chick that won't leave him alone, everything else just disappeared." Antonio took a break from talking, stuffing his face full of food.

"Sounds like an idiot, you keep great company."

"Tha's nofink compare' tuh fwanshis."

"Come again?"

Antonio swallowed, letting the food slide down his gullet before trying again. "I said that's nothing compared to Francis."

"Who the hell is Francis?"

"He's a level 5, he has a specific manipulation power, and I don't think that anyone is really certain how the levelling system works for that, there are an awful lot of people who can fit this category. Francis can –" As if the boy in question had known he was being talked about he appeared beside the Spaniard, holding a sleepy albino boy of the same age by the collar.

There was a small explosion that sent Antonio and Lovino's plates flying toward the two, who didn't duck in time.

"Merdé… " The Frenchman muttered as he wiped egg from his face and let the albino go. "That was extremely rude!"

"Ah… Si… As I was saying, Francis has the ability to teleport… so he can manipulate his cellular structure's position in the universe… and- apparently – others." Antonio cringed, as he turned to help the two clear up, the albino only now seeming to realise he had food all over him.

"Awh mannnn… unawesome." He grumbled, sitting down and not bothering to clear himself up.

Lovino was red in the cheeks embarrassed with his sudden use of power and keeping his head down as the albino boy seemed to fall asleep at the table. The Frenchman whined at Antonio for a while as he attempted to clean him before announcing "It won't do, I will just have to go and get clean! Zut allors…" And disappearing just as quickly as he'd arrived.

"Lo siento…" Antonio mumbled at Lovino who let out a shaky breath.

"Bet that idiot is going to be trouble… hah…" He laughed nervously before swallowing, "So uh… What can a level 6 do…?"

"Well, a Level 6 can—" Antonio stopped as he was cut off.

"Still playing with children Carriedo?"

Lovino frowned as he saw Antonio's smile slip from his face, instantly becoming something else from what the younger was used to seeing of him.

"Arturo…" He spat, there was acid on his tongue, Lovino could hear it in his voice. "Finally got a friend you haven't had to bend to your will?"

The two seemed to growl at each other for an eternity before Lovino raised his voice and tried to speak up, "Uhm… Antonio… who is this?"

"Oh I wouldn't take anything this twat says about me as truth. Anthony always has had a devious tongue…" The blonde British boy laughed coldly.

"Like you're one to talk, cabrón."

"Charmed. Listen boy, you'd do better than hang around with an airhead and his…" He grimaced at the sight of snoring albino boy covered in baked beans, "…civilised company. You should make more effort to befriend those who would suit you better."

There was something about the blonde boy's eyes that drew Lovino in, making him believe each of his words. He found his mind slowly turning to mush the more and more he looked at them, why didn't 'Arturo' just tell him what to do, everything he said sounded so right. He almost whispered in agreement when Antonio interrupted, thrusting a hand in front of Lovino's vision and bringing him out of his dream state.

"Don't you be playing your silly little mind games here, puta. Councilman Romulus asked me personally to look after his grandson so you better leave him alone." He growled, "If you use him as part of your petty revenge against me you'll only get yourself into trouble, Level 6."

Arthur narrowed his eyes, scoffing slightly. "Councilman Romulus' grandson?"

"Idiota I'm not—"

"Si. Just like I said."

"What's so special about that? I bet he just has a measly pathetic little power like being able to make pasta or pizza dance for his entertainment." Arthur laughed, making Lovino want to shrink up inside the oversized shirt and disappear.

"Oh si! That's a point! I forgot about your badge." Antonio seemed to for a moment, flick back to being his normal cheery self as the British boy remained smirking at Lovino. He fished around in his pockets for a good couple of minutes until he retrieved the badge, reaching over the table and pinning it to the front of Lovino's jumper. "There you go!" He smiled, before gasping and pointing at it, suddenly realising what he was seeing.

"Wh-Why? What is it you imbecile? Discover y-you have brain cells or something?" Arthur jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise, rounding on the Spaniard.

"No." Antonio grinned from ear to ear, fighting it down as he looked at Arthur with a mild visage of smugness. "Just that… well, I was just about to congratulate Lovino on the fact he's a Level 8… but… no big deal."

"No big deal- What are you on about?"

Lovino looked down at his badge, frowning at the small crest emblem of the school that if angled correctly in the light, shone the number 8 at him. He frowned; this was a… good thing wasn't it?

Arthur was fuming, he scowled at the badge for a long time before turning and pretending he'd just seen someone. Not even bothering to say goodbye he left, and Antonio began to chuckled at his cowardly fleeing.

"Felicitaciones, Lovi! You're a level 8!"

"And… what does that mean idiota?" The Italian asked, looking confused at his guide.

"It means that you have 'total control', you can do whatever you want!"

"B-But…" Lovino reddened, deciding to ignore the heavy weight that was now pinned to his borrowed uniform. "But I don't have total control! There must be a mistake!"

Antonio simply laughed, "Si, no one has complete control, that's why we're in this school, to learn how to do so. But when you're old enough to leave, you will do and just imagine how much power you will have! You'll be amazing!"

Antonio sighed, as though he was sat in awe of the 10 year old boy in front of him.

The school bells sounded again, bringing the albino next to them out of his sleep with a jolt.

Antonio got up, ready to head off to class as he called Lovino over to him.

"Hey, Antonio… You never told me what level you were!" Lovino called as he hurried after the tanned brunette who stopped to turn back to him.

"Oh me? I'm a Level 7, High Level Manipulation, just one level lower than you mi pequeño!"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	4. Chapter 4 Three Years Later

**Gifted And Talented**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - 3 Years Later**

* * *

"Come on bastard! Wake up" Lovino yelled throwing open the door with a bang. Antonio stirred instantly as the door didn't move from the wall.

"Lovi? Is there a fire?" he asked looking at the door. The Italian tutted and yanked the door back again to slam it shut revealing the crumbling plaster behind it. A groan escaped the Spaniard lips as he buried his head back under his pillow. That was going to cost him…

"Idiot I just found out a new kid turned up and I want to go see!" he perched himself on the edge of the bed where Antonio curled up under the covers making space for him.

"But Lovi~" he protested "it's a Saturday! And why do you care? You've never cared about any of the new students that have come before"

"I had a change of fucking heart" Lovino lied obviously, Antonio had come to hear the little hints over the past 3 years in the boy's voice that gave away how he felt. He secretly called it Lovi-talian which only Francis and Gilbert knew and were sworn to secrecy as well.

"Ok ok…" The boy sat up and stretched yawning "let me just get dressed mi tomate and we will be on our way"

Lovino nodded and turned his back blushing a little willing his heart to keep calm least he blows up the TV. Antonio did the same, trying to calm down very aware of the situation as he stood half in the wardrobe picking out the uniform and putting it on. The two had come to greet the awkward period of the other dressing like an old friend remaining silent till the one changing had finished.

"Ok ready!" Antonio laughed as he attached his badge to the sweatshirt; Lovino looked over his shoulder and sighed seeing he was having trouble.

"You never can get this on by yourself can you Seven" he muttered getting up and taking the pin from the Spaniard before getting to work himself on putting it on. Antonio smiled and just watched the other as he concentrated in such a cute way. It was strange to think that the hot-headed strong and in some ways independent boy was the same crying child he decided to approach that evening.

Lovino spent the first year of the school at home but quickly took up a dorm in the school in his second year although his motives were never clear and he swore to himself he would never tell anyone.

Never again after the first year did he want to be chauffeured to and from the place by his so called Nonno, the man insisted that since Lovino could walk to the fucking building, then they could have bonding time. There was a year's worth of mornings of his life he'd never ever get back.

"there it's on" he muttered heading for the door as Antonio rubbed a thumb over it.

"Gracias Eight" he winked. The number thing had become a quick way of calling your attention to someone, sometimes like with the level Fives, it was a little redundant too many students and a lot of them hated being distracted from their work.

Lovino rushed ahead having to stop as Antonio didn't seem to understand the situation. Not that he could with Lovino withholding that one piece of vital information which was why he wanted to do this in the first place. Lovino grumbled to himself all the time thinking that the other was nothing more than a stupid bastard who needed to understand that there was no need to ask fucking questions and he should just do as he was told, Antonio seemed none the wiser to the deep meaningful thinking of his closest friend.

Once they had arrived at the council's building and made their way inside they saw Romulus speaking with a boy who seemed to have a similar appearance to Lovino. Antonio would have pointed this out if Lovino hadn't already gone over and started chatting with the two, well it seemed apparent that he knew the boy.

"now be kind to your brother Lovino he's new so he won't get how things work" Romulus spoke and Lovino nodded ruffling the younger boy's hair.

"si si I know Nonno" he grumbled "I'll take good care of him"

The councilman apologised to the younger brother that he had other duties to attend to. Antonio sheepishly made his way over to fill in the spot the tutor left behind.

"Antonio…this is my younger brother Feliciano" Lovino introduced the bouncy Italian next to him who waved at Antonio smiling happily. He was definitely different to Lovino, more happy and upbeat, but the Spaniard had a feeling you'd have to be a special kind of person to keep up with him.

"ciao I'm Feli~" he cried hugging Antonio who was oblivious to the slight fist curling of the elder brother. " I just started coming here"

"I can see that" Antonio laughed "and what level are you?" he asked wondering if he knew. Feliciano on the other hand just smiled warmly producing his badge

"I'm a level 3" He turned to Lovino and hung off him "isn't that great fratello ve~" he asked

"huh oh yeah that's great what can you control?" Lovino asked showing great interest in this new development.

"I paint things and they come to life!" he seemed really proud of this

"oh…like that story Yao told me…the magic paintbrush I think" Antonio mused. Feliciano smiled and apologised saying he had to go. In the doorway were two boys, the German kid brother to the albino and a Japanese boy, both of which had started attending the school recently and who had powers of something that Lovino had no care for.

"I already have friends and everything ve" he smiled before running off calling the German's name and making Lovino skin crawl. Antonio thought it was cute the new kids were getting to know one another when he noted Lovino had gone incredibly quiet.

"Lovi are you-"

"did you see that Antonio?" he cried looking shiny eyed and excited. It creeped Antonio out a bit and at the same time made Lovi adorable. "I…I have a higher level that Feliciano!"

"that doesn't seem like something to be excited about…remember I explained the levelling system"

"just let me have this bastard ok? It's… it's just important for me to be better at something ok?"

Antonio nodded and bit his tongue not wanting to pry when he knew the other would never tell him in a million years. So he smiled warmly

"Want to get breakfast off campus?"

Lovino was always quick to accept food off of campus, not that there was anything wrong with the food provided at school it was like a mouth party every single time but being confined to the grounds of the buildings could send you a little loopy. Generally if someone asks you to go off campus what they mean to say is, you look like you are going a little crazy about something and so am I so want to go somewhere else so we don't do something stupid we regret later.

Antonio always took him the same place, a small café at the end of the hidden road to the school. There were a few tables outside and inside was full of small booths around a counter. The couple who owned the place were coming up to a retirement age but they both seemed to refuse to give up working, they didn't even question the fact their largest intake of customers were students from a school they had never seen. They truly were nice and made the best cake in the world!

But never tell Belle you said that or she would murder you.

"so what's eating you bastard?" Lovino asked as he shoved a large forkful in his mouth watching the other with suspicious eyes. Antonio looked up from his piece and blinked almost confused.

"I just thought you might like to come get cake for breakfast what could possibly make you think that I had something eating me?" He laughed it off and then stopped seeing the unimpressed look on Lovino's face. The Italian pointed to the cake in front of the Spaniard and it was only then Antonio realised he had turned to pointed half of the sweet into a pile a cake rubble.

"ah Lo siento" he laughed twitching a finger and re-assembling the cake. Lovino smacked him over the head with a fork.

"not. IN. PUBLIC" he hissed "seriously you're the one taking the exam today and you still don't think before you use your powers?" he noticed the other physically twitch at the mention of testing.

"so that's it" Lovino mused and Antonio looked up "you're nervous about the exam aren't you?"

The boy across the table looked away "they want me to do things I don't want to do…" he sighed "they want me to move a human through the air…"

"that isn't so bad is it?" Lovino wondered finishing his piece of cake and setting his fork down

"they want me to throw the person into a hay stack" he nearly yelled looking upset. Without thinking and jumping a little from the shock Lovino threw his hands forward and wrapped them around Antonio's hands.

"hey it's ok…it's just a test" he managed a small smile for the other "once it's done I'll do… whatever you want…within reason" he blushed bright red and the other seemed shocked before a wide grin set on his face

"if Lovi thinks I can do it then I can!" he declared laughing curling his fingers around Lovino's fingers.

"awww isn't that sweet" a new voice made them both jump and looked over to see the waitress with drinks in her hands "are you two?" she asked a curious little look in her eye. Both boys' looked down to see their hands intertwined and embarrassed quickly separated themselves looking in opposite directions and as red as beets whilst the girl laughed placing down the drink on the table and excused herself. The rest of their time out was in a strange silence before leaving to head off to the school.

The road from the town up to the school was a long dirt road up a small hill. As The two climb up side by side they took the time to note the scenery and other students along the way. Most used their powers to get up and down the hill without a problem but sometimes it was nice to just walk along it. The sun was high in the sky now and when they reached the grounds most of the student body were up and walking around. Although every day had tutoring only on weekdays were their regular planned lessons that required an early start. Today there was a lot of free time outside of tutoring and other things. Antonio sighed

"I need to go get some things for the exam so I will see you later ok?" he asked and Lovino looked at him and nodded as they passed through the main gate, the large guard staring down at them.

"fine I'll see you after the exam…good luck" he muttered and the Spanish boy smiled before jogging off towards the west building. Now alone Lovino found he had nothing to do and just decided to stroll around the courtyard for a bit until something more interesting came up.

In the centre of the courtyard there were large amounts of equipment being set up for the testing of the students at about age 16 years old like Antonio. He watched as a large pile of all the equipment needed was carried around and arranged by one of the student Lovino's age. His name was Alfred, and his power was super strength, so they tended to use him for odd jobs. He spent a lot of time around Arthur but not under any mental influence, the American teen tended to do anything for a burger.

After a few moment of watching this, the Italian became bored and decided to head off into the West building and maybe just wish Antonio that last bit of luck for today. As he opened the door though he smacked into someone head on and yelled out falling to the floor.

"ah!" the other cried. Looking a lot like Alfred but with paler head and a strange curl off his head Lovino recognised him as the younger brother Mathew who gripped his stuffed bear on his chest and looked upset to have caused the boy to fall.

"I am so sorry Lovino I didn't see you there I was just looking for Alfred and…" was all Lovino caught of the sentence as the boy's power took over and he entered supersonic sound. Gripping his head from the ringing until the other calmed down he sighed.

"Alfred is outside putting his power to use" he commented as Mathew offered his hand and pulled him to his feet "do you know where the students taking the exam are today?"

Mathew looked at him curiously and smiled "you want to go see Antonio?"

Lovino blushed and spluttered some excuse but the Canadian hushed him "just head down there the doors on the right" and with that he left laughing to himself.

Lovino rolled his eyes and headed off down the corridor he had been pointed to. Up ahead he could see the door of the room. He stopped and sighed trying to find the courage. Soon the door opened and the group of 16 year olds came out of the room. Seeing Antonio Lovino went to move forward, but stopped to just watch as a blond girl with her hair in a ribbon came out of the room last and asked Antonio to wait. This was Belle, a girl who liked making sweets and cakes and things…that Antonio liked, she could make them dance and move at will. Lovino just watched unnoticed as Belle said something to the Spaniard who laughed moving closer to her and she to him. They embraced for a long time and Lovino found tears reaching his eyes for no reason he could think of. He curled his fists and felt a heat within him he had never felt before, was this why Antonio wanted to leave so soon? When the two before him broke the embrace they seemed happy to stand there talking loosely in one another's arms before they turned and headed off down the hallway towards the exam. The heat built and built until a voice brought him to his senses.

"Ah I'll get it Desu-yo!" a small boy with a similar appearance to Arthur jumped out of one of the classrooms where a bunch of the youngest students were hanging out and stared at a bin that had just spontaneously combusted. Lovino paled realising he had done that. The boy glanced back into the room he had been in and stared intently at a bottle of water of the table before turning and raising his hands shooting water into the bin a large hissing as the fire was extinguished filled the hall.

As the students went to congratulate the boy Lovino ran back outside not wanting to be associated with the incident and the fact the testing was about to begin. As he approached he noticed Antonio seemed to be searching the ground, eyes lighting up and smiling brightly as the emerald orbs zoned in on the Italian, it made Lovino's heart flutter a little but he remained calm glancing back at the West building.

The test was different for each student as they all had different powers. Gupta, the Egyptian kid did what he always did, looked at loads of different language and read them all out perfectly in English. Lovino wasn't too sure what Arthur did during his exam but the amount of shouting Antonio was doing when the Italian came back to reality suggested he was a part of it. Gilbert brought a bear into school, and Ivan covered it in flowers which held the animal in place. Yao had 10 seconds to memorise ten different food pictures and then replicate them; it was that day's lunch menu so a lot of faith rested in what he remembered. Johan, the Dutch kid and brother to Belle, create a smokescreen over the entire school which was great but the smoke he controlled originated from his cigarette. Everything suddenly felt wonderful and made the student really hungry. Belle made chocolate move and dance as she made it and Tino…Tino was a special kid from Finland was could make it snow, so he did, a lot. Berwald was greatly impressed.

Antonio turn came and a man kitted up in protective gear awaited the power. He raised his hand and swallowed shaking visibly. Everyone waited in silence.

"I can't do it…" he muttered "I can't move him"

"yes you can Antonio" a member of the council tried to encourage him as he looked at them with terrified eyes.

"I can't!" he protested getting worried "it's a horrible use of this power and I don't want to do it"

"Antonio listen…if you don't do this you won't pass"

"Fine then! I accept a fail!"

"you won't know unless you try Antonio…go on dear"

The boy felt frustrated as they continued to talk, they didn't understand! They didn't get it! He didn't want to do this but they were still pushing and pushing.

"Fine!" he yelled thrusting his hand into the air, the man shot off backwards missing the hay going over the crowd and smashing through a window"

Lovino panicked and rushed through the crowd towards the line of students jumping over the rope that cornered it all off and dashing up the stage to grasp the Spaniard who looked pale and terrified. No one attempted to stop the boy as he ran up

"Antonio?" he asked the boy in question blinked and looked at him

"L-Lovi…I did it…" he muttered ashamed. Lovino sighed

"Yeah it's ok…you don't have to do it again now"

Antonio smiled at that thought, now all had to wait for was the results. Wouldn't that be a fun day?

* * *

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5 No Trust In Myself

**Gifted & Talented**

* * *

**No Trust In Myself**

* * *

"But that's simply barbaric!"

The council grumbled in disgust and disbelief that the man in front them rolled his eyes and continued.

"I am simply suggesting that their beliefs might not be too far from ours."

"Still! To suggest that we train our students and their abilities to be used for such purposes is inhumane!"

The council broke in to disquiet again after the blonde middle aged woman's outburst, a few of the other female members muttered complaints as the man who had brought about the entire discussion decided to raise his voice again.

He stood in the centre of the room, away from his usual position at the far right of the esteemed members. His thick, slick long black hair falling over his face and down his back into a very low and loose ponytail. His rich coffee skin a masterpiece of dark geometric tattoos, and unlike some of the other members of the council his work uniform was plainer, a collarless cream shirt and ordinary dark trousers. He stood with a calm and somewhat arrogant demeanour as he addressed the council, his patience only barely wearing thin with the British woman's outbursts.

"Better than to leave them without any means of protection for themselves at all, we all know the government is not above hiring children."

The woman opened her mouth to speak again but was silenced by a simple raise of the hand from councilmen Romulus.

"We know you are worried for your own children's sake Rhoswen*… and you are not the only one with friends or family in the school." He spoke, his voice holding wisdom as the blonde male beside him nodded. "However, Matlal** whilst your argument does stand, are children not taught that they must fend for themselves in the normal world regardless of whether they have abilities? If the children wish to join the army that is of their own choice. Whilst they are here they have nothing to fear and we should continue to teach them solely to control their abilities."

"But why?" The dark haired male responded, "Why stop there? Who knows how much unlocked potential we have missed solely because we refuse to go beyond what they already know?"

This question brought interest to the eye of the elderly leader of the council sat in the head chair, her airy aura still present if not sharpened in attention.

"Potential for what, Councilman Matlal?" A Greek woman to the immediate left of their council leader asked curiously, a small knowledgeable smirk playing on her lips. "Children are naïve enough, they would follow anyone if asked. Surely we should not arm should the potential threat of intervention from the outside world arise?"

The Egyptian to her side nodded in agreement. "It does rather sound as though Councilmen Matlal wishes to create a school full of warriors… do we punish the children who do not bare powers with potential next?"

"I think that would be presuming his words, Councilwoman Hasina." A German voice complained from the other side of the room, causing the playful personality of the catlike Egyptian to be shied back into its quiet exterior.

"It is nice to know that at least someone stands by my side." Matlal smiled towards the blonde who grunted, rising from his seat to address his fellow councilman properly.

"Your ideas are unsupported, stand down." He spoke plainly, not needing an ability to look intimidating as his ice blue eyes stared down the amber ones of his – for the moment, or at least until he showed signs of aggression – peaceful opponent. The raven haired male grunted, scowling at the German. "Before you do or say something you regret. Remember your place in the council or leave, the safety and trust of the children here is more important to us than your sense of unfulfilled accomplishments in your career-"

"Alaric. Stop." Romulus warned the German, stepping up to hold the man back. Rhoswen, Hasina and the other council members watching in both anticipation and concern as to how much further the argument would go.

Councilmen Alaric looked back at his fellow members before staring straight at his opponent and finishing his speech, "The door is always open to those who wish to leave."

The council fell to silence as the German turned back to his seat without another word, the council's elderly leader watched with a raised brow.

She wondered how this would affect how things were written.

* * *

"Oi, Toto, you gonna eat that cake or…?"

Antonio snapped out of his thoughts, staring down at the plate of crumbs, piled high and clumped in places where the cream had gathered them together. "Oh! Lo siento…"

Lovino looked up from across the table with Francis, both of their attentions perking as they watched the Spaniard raise his hand, one of the crumbs twitching for a moment before he remembered what he was doing. He looked up in time to see Francis and Lovino look quickly back at their own food before lowering his hand completely and just eating from the pile of crumbs with a saddened sigh.

It had been like this for a few days now, Lovino noted as he stole a glance back up Antonio's saddened expression. Every time he thought to elder had got back into the flow of things and forgotten he was refusing to use his power, he would become very aware that he was doing it and stop himself before the idiot had realised that his ability wasn't all bad.

The Frenchman sighed, rolling his eyes as he looked to the other two friends present to see if anyone would say something first, when he was met only with silence he voiced his opinions.

"Mon ami… look at you, this is not the friend I first met almost 6 years ago who was ecstatic to get to find a use for his power… talk to us, come on…"

The Spaniard looked up, a blank expression of feigned innocence as he stared at his long time friend and answered simply, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Francis turned to Gilbert who also frowned, "Listen, Toni, we all know what's eating you-"

"And for once it is not something Gilbert called out of the deep forests…" Francis piped in.

"Ja. And everyone is just really concerned that you're taking this test business to—HEY! I don't always try and get Toni into those situations you know!" The albino began before turning and snapping at Francis' quip, who simply laughed in return.

"Oui, because the prank you had in stall for last year's camp trip was entirely planned." The blonde grinned.

"So I wanted to spook him and make him believe that the animals of the forest were going to perform sacrificial rights on him for choosing the chicken stew for dinner… the fact that wolf came along and tried to rip him to pieces was totally part of the big plan." Gilbert complained, "I had everything under control!"

Lovino groaned as the two older boys began bickering amongst themselves, they were such idiots. This wasn't about them and was certainly no time for joking. He had no idea why Antonio hung around with them, especially when it came to situations like this, this was precisely where you were supposed to prove that you could be a real friend and they were appalling at it!

"Will you two shut the fuck up already and pay attention to your friend who is clearly having a life crisis over whether he should use his power or just give it up for good!" Lovino stood, yelling his frustrations at the two senior class members as Antonio looked up at him blinking.

For a second they all fell into silence and Lovino's cheeks reddened at the outburst, happy that he'd at least learnt to somewhat control his ability overtime, now he had more a 7:3 chance that something wouldn't blow up. Slowly, after he caught his breath from the outburst he sat down, scanning over the table to see if either of the two were going to start bickering again, they didn't, but they didn't start talking again either, both avoiding Antonio's gaze who was looking at them all with an unreadable expression.

"Listen, Antoni-"

"I'm going out."

Lovino blinked as Antonio interrupted him, getting up and walking straight out of the cafeteria. Uncertain about what to do the Italian looked back at the Spaniard's friends, both of which seemed to be staring down the remains of Antonio's cake and wondering who would pounce first.

Lovino frowned and grumbled a disgusted, "Why the fuck is he even friends with you two." Before rushing out of the cafeteria, searching for Antonio.

* * *

Antonio had walked for ages now, it started with just the school corridors but there were too many students there after a while, too many people openly using their own abilities for useful things, for things that would aid them in everyday life. It just made him so frustrated. Whenever he used his ability on someone it was unwilling, after all, what use was a physical manipulation power on someone who could just do it for themselves. 'Hey, Antonio, why don't you just move my arms so that I can pick my pen up?' Yeah, his power was really useful.

Even when it came to the manipulation of other things he was no use, he'd never really been able to do much more with objects than put the crumbs of a cake back together and catch objects that were falling or had been thrown, and the only reason he ever caught them was because he wasn't expecting them. Councilman Romulus, who had been his tutor since he'd first come to the school had often tried to encourage him to work on his telekinetic abilities, but they never really stuck with him and he wasn't quite sure why. Perhaps it was just a block he couldn't get past.

The brunette eventually reached a small walled rose garden, a place that he could hide until he felt better. The garden was usually tended to by Councilwoman Rhoswen or her star student, Ivan. Today Antonio was glad that neither of them were here, he just wanted to be somewhere normal for once.

He lay down on a patch of grass in the middle of the circular garden, staring at the sky above him and taking several deep breaths. It was obvious what his problem was, and everyone else around him knew what was on his mind, he just didn't know how to deal with it.

"Just get over it, Antonio… You can't change what your power is, Antonio… You should be happy, Antonio… Happy about being what? I'd rather have no ability at all than have one that's not wanted." The boy grumbled, turning on to his side and curling up slightly. "Everyone was really scared…"

He swallowed the feeling of guilt as he remembered the day of the tests. When he had… used his ability, everyone had just gasped in shock and moved away from him, even Lovino had been scared, why else would he have run up to calm him down so quickly, he was probably worried he'd end up freaking out and use it on everyone. It was no different, all the times he had used it before got the same shocked and scared reaction out of people, even when he used it for good or at least tried to. The businessman who he'd saved from the car, the time he'd first demonstrated his ability to Lovino, when he'd stopped the little child from running off from his mother who wasn't paying attention, even when he'd saved his own mother… he hadn't even used his power on her and she looked terrified.

He spent a long time in that rose garden feeling sorry for himself before someone finally found him.

"Tonio? Is that you?" A sweet sing song voice of a girl called out from above him.

He opened his eyes, staring up at the blonde bob of hair and round face of his classmate, her lips curved in a kind smile, eyes blinking curiously.

"What are you doing down there? Did you get into a fight with Arthur again?" Her curiosity quickly turned into a scolding pout that brought the Spaniard fully out of his thoughts.

"I'm not always fighting with Arthur." He complained, sitting up and rubbing is head, scowling as the girl crouched down to his height, holding a lunchbox in her hands and almost unbalancing herself.

"You do fight a lot though." She argued, laughing as Antonio let out a sulking huff and sat next to him. "You're worried aren't you?"

Belle always had a habit of hitting things dead on, not that it was hard presently, and especially since she had been there to cheer him up last time he'd worried about this, just before the test. When he didn't answer and remained silent, staring at his hands she sighed and looked around her.

"Don't give up just yet…" A hand was on the spaniard's shoulder, rubbing comfortingly, "You'll never know what you can do if you just give in… and they won't let you stay here… who's going to take care of Lovino if you drop out, hm? At least do it for him."

Oh, Antonio wanted so much to sulk and glare at the woman in that moment, she knew his weakness, and damn she knew he knew she was using it on purpose. Calculative bitch. He narrowed his eyes at her for the longest time before breaking in to a smile and then a laugh.

"You always know just how to get to me." He pushed Belle slightly who in turn pushed him back, just like a pair of squabbling siblings.

"You're just too obvious, Tonio, it'll be your downfall just watch." She grinned, before smirking playfully. "Now get out of my lunch spot before I make my food chase you out."

"I'd like to see you try." The Spaniard challenged.

"Don't test me Carriedo, I'm feeling particularly bloodthirsty today."

"Si, Si! Okay, I get it." Antonio laughed, following her orders.

As he left the walled sanctuary of the garden Antonio felt lighter, Belle was right, he didn't know if his power had perhaps some locked potential, or some use he hadn't realised yet. All he had t do was stay positive and carry on with his life, even if he didn't use his power that much, it should be okay, he just had t get by until something better came along.

Unaware of where he was going, Antonio walked head on into Lovino, who dragged him out of his thoughts with a sharp punch on the shoulder.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere."

Antonio blinked at grumpy looking 14 year old in front of him, before sighing and smiling.

"I just needed to clear my head, Lovi… It's okay."

"It's not okay. I was really fucking concerned; you don't ever leave your food uneaten." The Italian glared, aware that the two accomplices of the Spaniard had devoured the remains of the cake by this point.

"Si, Lo siento… you know I've been worried, and I'm sorry if I've worried you, but I'm okay now, I feel better." Antonio sighed every breath feeling like a little more weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"Huh? Y-You're okay?" Lovino looked surprised at him, before narrowing his eyes suspiciously, "Why…? What happened?"

Antonio stared for a moment, confused as to why this was so hard to believe, laughing for a moment before ruffling the boy's hair. "Don't look at me like that, Lovi. It was nothing serious; Belle just talked to me is all."

"Belle?" The word came out an awful lot more alarmed than Lovino intended, immediately quietening himself and looking away, red in the face. "I mean, s-so what? What's so special about what she did?"

Antonio shrugged, far too used to these kinds of reactions from Lovino when it came to him talking to or about Belle, part of the Spaniard suspected the Italian boy had eyes for her; he was just too shy to say something most likely. "She just cheered me up is all."

Lovino glared at Antonio, about to ask him what she did in particular before the clock tower bells chimed.

"Oh! I should… probably get to my tutoring… I'm supposed to find out the results today…" Antonio grimaced at the idea, hopefully he'd be able to get away with not using his power so much, or focusing on manipulating objects, Romulus would understand. "Wish me luck okay, Lovi?" He grinned at his friend, pulling him in to a quick hug before running off again, leaving the Italian in not only a confused, but disgruntled mood.

* * *

"But I don't understand…? Don't I usually have Councilmen Romulus?"

Antonio stood in the large empty classroom, save for a desk for the tutor by the far wall, there was a chalkboard so that the tutor could elaborate on what he wanted the student to do, but apart from that the classroom was often left bare so that students could bring what they needed for their own power. In front of Antonio today was not his usual tutor, but instead it Councilmen Matlal, the Southern American, he was supposed to be one of the sterner members of the council. The students had already made their fair share of rumours about the quieter Councilmen.

"Under the recent circumstances and your results from the testing, Councilmen Romulus as confided in me that I might be a better suited choice of tutor, what with our powers being so… similar of sorts." The councilmen spoke honestly, "So I decided to take up the position."

Antonio shifted uncomfortably, a new tutor may mean new courses of approach to his power, and it made him a little apprehensive, especially when he didn't want to use his power so much. Perhaps he'd be able to avoid doing so if he said he wasn't feeling too well.

"Would I be able to just find out my results today…I- I'm not feeling too up to using my ability at the moment…" Antonio mumbled, keeping his eyes down as the councilmen watched him.

"Why not?"

"I- I just don't… particularly…"

"Well there has to be a reason why…"

Antonio frowned, if this was Romulus he'd understand, Romulus would just give him the afternoon off and wait for him to feel better, but no, he had a new tutor who didn't think the same way, great. Uncertain of what to say, he stayed quiet.

"I see, it must be really troubling you if you refuse to say." His tutor sighed, looking over the file he had in front of him for the student. "I gather that you have a high level physical manipulation power, I think for this first session its best I just get a better idea of what you can do so that later I might be able to plan your tutorials better."

Antonio let out a breath of relief, nodding. He was okay with this for the meantime, maybe before his next lesson he'd be able to persuade Romulus to come back and be his tutor again. "Okay."

"Right well, what exactly have you been able to achieve with your power, for example, how well are your standard telekinetic powers?" The councilmen asked, leaning back in his chair as he interviewed his student.

"I can do small things, like… this is stupid but… ever since I first came here I developed a habit of having the cake that's sold at the café just off campus… If I'm ever upset I tend to just mash up my food and rebuild it and then mash it up and rebuild it again… of course it never looks perfect but… it's the only half decent thing I've been able to do…" He sighed, before realising his was vocalising his problem too much and completing his speech with, "Other than that I can only really do things when it's a surprise like stop things being thrown or dropped."

His new tutor took a pen and began to write notes of what the Spaniard was saying down. "I see, so you would say that your powers are far more focused on what you can do to the human body…"

"Si, well, I can manipulate people's limbs, and my telekinesis is stronger on people than it is on objects but…" He breathed; better tell him sooner or later. "I don't exactly enjoy using it on people…"

"Why on earth not?" Matlal regarded the boy in front of him strangely, "It is what your ability does, why aren't you comfortable about it?"

"I just…" He breathed, before explaining to the new tutor in front of him his concerns about his ability, his worries and his wishes for what he could do. It couldn't hurt so much to tell him, maybe this is the chance he'd been waiting for, the things about his power he didn't know about yet, the thing Belle had told him to wait about and see.

"I see, so the problem is not that you don't want to use your power, but that you don't like how it automatically makes you the bad guy when you use it… right…" Councilmen Matlal took down the last notes before stopping, in thought. "Antonio… have you ever… tried to go beyond basic control of limbs… like… have you ever gone deeper than the surface?"

"Deeper?" Antonio frowned, tilting his head.

"Antonio, are you aware of why our powers are so similar?" The councilmen looked directly at Antonio with his amber eyes this time.

"Uhm… your ability is… th-the manipulation… of… something?" He answered, unsure.

"I have the ability to manipulate the human body from within. Not a million miles off what you are already capable of doing, but whereas you have only worked from an exterior, I have been able to manipulate others from the triggered alarms in their bodies. Where as you may physically make someone you want to leave you alone go away against their will, I would be able to… just press a little on a certain area inside their bodies and they'd run off telling me they desperately had to go to the toilet." He smiled, as though it was a joke, but his eyes seemed to sparkle with delight over the control he held.

Antonio blinked, processing the information, "So you… can control people's insides?"

"Not just their insides, anything… it's a true manipulative power, I can manipulate their blood flow, their muscles, their nerves and their systems…"

"It doesn't sound very… nice…" Antonio mumbled, not exactly seeing where this would be helping him at all.

"From a basic view perhaps not… but imagine, If I can manipulate the things that are inside someone, don't you think I can help others? If someone is ill or suffering, you can help messages get to the places they are needed in the body faster. Stomach aches, or bugs can be cleared up at the click of a finger, blood clots can be removed and destroyed, infections treated by the correct antibodies. The closer you look, the more you would see to your aid." Matlal smiled, turning to look back at the student, who in this present moment was trying to comprehend how this exactly would work, but he was right, it was useful, despite how sinister it sounded. "I propose an experiment, that during my time I tutor you, we see if you too are capable of doing more with your power than just a surface manipulation… and in time, perhaps you will be able to find something useful that you can do with it."

* * *

When Antonio returned to the dorms late that night he found a pleasant surprise waiting for him in the doorway. Lovino had clearly been waiting for his return and fallen asleep in the corner of the room, his school bag next to him and a small box of Tupperware that contained some food he'd saved. He sighed and with a warm smile moved over and gently shook the boy awake.

"Lovi… Lovi wake up…"

"Mngh..?" Lovino blinked, squinting and eventually looking up at the Spaniard. "Ah! Oh. F-Finally idiot! I've been waiting fucking hours!"

Antonio laughed, ruffling the boy's hair, surprised at how quickly Lovino got into the flow of things after sleep. "Lo siento Lovi, Tutorial took longer than expected."

"Oh yeah…" Lovino frowned, "What's with that Antonio? This morning you really had your heart set on never using your power again and now you are?"

Antonio opened his mouth to answer but Lovino cut in.

"Did something happen? What happened? Is it something to do with Belle? I saw you two before the test you know… you don't have to fucking hide it from me… if she's the only reason you ever bother with this school anymore.."

Antonio opened his mouth again, but then the shock of the words hit him. Lovino thought that? How could he think that? Lovino wasn't even looking at him anymore, his heart racing after the accusation, Antonio wasn't reacting and he'd probably fucked things up big time now. He just wanted Belle and no one else, he was just a burden to him now.

"Lovino I-"

"It is isn't it?"

"Lovin-"

"Isn't it?"

"Lovino! Will you stop?"

He stopped, looking down at the floor and gathering his knees up to his chest, he was waiting for those magic 'I think we should stop hanging out' words.

Antonio on the other hand simply sighed and crouched down beside Lovino, sitting next to him.

"Lovino…" The Italian winced, bracing himself, "Belle and I are just friends… If this is about earlier all she did was find me in the rose garden after I stormed off and told me not to give up on my power just yet… To be honest even after I'd seen you I was going to just go and get my results from Romulus and leave… I didn't want to use my ability if I could get away with it… but well… that's where things changed."

Lovino's cheeks reddened, he'd been wrong all along? But all the cuddling and times they'd been alone together… He glared at the floor. "So Non- Councilmen Romulus… he convinced you?"

"No actually… He wasn't even there." Lovino looked up at Antonio, confused. Antonio in turn smiled like an excited child. "Councilmen Matlal was there… he's my new tutor now. He says he's going to see if he can help me develop my powers so that I can't just control people but control their insides."

"C-Control… their insides?" Lovino frowned, staring a little horrified at the idea, watching the smile slip of Antonio's face.

"Y-You don't like it?"

"W-Well... i-it doesn't exactly sound great… sounds kind of… creepy… and scary…" He muttered, trying to grasp the concept.

"B-but I can finally be useful!" Antonio watched, Lovino's reaction feeling his hopes beginning to crumble, he swallowed and started up again. "It can be-"

"It sounds horrible! Antonio… Why would you want to do that?" Lovino shuddered, it would just be like the grip that Antonio had on him when he used his ability, only… inside. "I'm not fucking surprised its Matlal teaching you… you know how creepy that bastard is!"

Antonio stared at his friend, listening to all the words that he'd worried Lovino would say about his power were finally coming out. "That's how it is, is it? This is what you think?"

"Of course… Antonio… That's really scary… to control someone from inside of them? I mean… I know that's all Arthur ever does but… wouldn't someone you use that on be aware of what's happening?" Lovino looked at Antonio with concerned eyes.

"No… It's not like that…" Antonio frowned.

"Yes it is. That's exactly how it is. I don't understand why you'd ever want to do that, it's even worse than your power already is!" Lovino clamped a hand over his mouth at the end. "I… didn't mean to say that…"

Antonio and Lovino sat there in silence for a while whilst everything sunk in, he couldn't look at Lovino now.

"Anton-"

"No, don't."

Lovino bit his lip as he watched the other, he could see the words beginning to process and everything he meant setting in, and all he wanted to do was yell 'I'm sorry'. Antonio frowned to himself, eventually getting up and heading up silently to his own room, leaving Lovino to hang his head in his hands.

He was such an idiot.

* * *

_To be continued..._

* * *

_**A/N: I believe it is time for some formal introductions of some characters we all know and love... Primarily the council members. **  
_

_***Rhoswen = Britannia, or Albion, the 'ancient' england that has been running about the fandom.**_

_****Matlal = The Ancient Aztec Empire... or Just Aztec... **_

_**Hasina = Ancient Egypt**_

_**Alaric = The Germanic Tribes.**_

_**And then of course there is Romulus, the Nonno we all know and love as the Roman Empire, and Ancient Greece, who we haven't named yet. If anyone has an idea let us know... other than that I hope you enjoyed!**_

_**P.s. Toto is another nickname for Antonio.**_


	6. Chapter 6 Easing Tension

**Gifted & Talented**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Easing Tension**

* * *

Lovino stared intently at the ceiling, partly due to the overriding guilt that weighed heavy on his heart from his loose tongue and partly due to the fact every time he moved his back ached unmercifully. He rolled his eyes and sighed believing it to be some form of punishment for not being a good friend. Forcing himself onto his sighed he looked over to the wall and closed his eyes willing himself to at least fall into semi-consciousness so the night would pass.

He'd apologise to the bastard tomorrow he swore he would.

He somehow managed to pass the night and slowly, and very lonely made his way along the corridor. He was groggy and suffering deep dark patches beneath his eyes and several times nearly got into accidents but the Italian was determined to find his target.

"you moron…do you know where Antonio is?" the accusing finger prodded at the sleeping albino's head as he and the French teen sat in the cafeteria, the blond looked up and quirked an eyebrow at the sight before him

"good morning Lovino, did someone have a nightmare without his Spanish teddy bear?"

The Italian grumbled something under his breath and still managed to pull off a successful glare that with the added effect of lack of sleep created a ghostly appearance. Gilbert unfortunately looked up half asleep himself and saw the sight before him screaming loudly and toppling off his stool backwards. Laughter followed as the attention was drawn to the three for a small amount of time before they went back to their own meals.

The Prussian pulled himself back up muttering about the unawesomeness of the situation before taking in the brunette fully.

"so…you didn't sleep well then?" he sniggered a little to himself. Lovino had to hold back the urge to smack him right across his empty head but he asked again.

"where is Antonio?" the two looked to each other trying to judge the situation before Francis sighed.

"he was here but he went to an early morning tutoring session of something, said he needed to let off steam or something"

"ja he seemed upset about something" seeing the Italian physically flinched they exchanged looks again before noticing Lovino moving away from the table

"good luck in your search" Francis called after him as he passed. Pushing the doors open at the other end of the hall he realised he had no idea where Antonio got his tutoring. Frustrated and tired he strode away from the door and headed for the building on the other side of the courtyard.

* * *

Antonio wasted no time in making his way to the classroom, feeling a little too sick to his stomach for breakfast that morning and his irritation levels at snapping point. He felt betrayed, hurt, slightly used, the list was endless in his mind, the mere thought of the person responsible made his heart raced and his palms itch. He just need some stress relief, maybe using his power was the best thing right now.

But it was evil right? It was horrible and bad and rotten and all things wrong in the world!

But in his mood he felt he could do anything and not give a fuck, he pushed open the door harshly and didn't even recoil as it smacked almost off its hinge and slammed shut again.

Councilman Matlal peered up from over his notes to see the mop of brunette hair practically stomp in and broad in the centre of the room. He blinked questioning this as the same boy who yesterday had laughed off the ideas he had presented. The darkening aura around the teen was strange and he longed to see if this would work to his advantage.

"Good morning Antonio, did you sleep well?"

The boy looked up with acid filled eyes not really answering further than a grunt as he came to stand in the middle of the room in a more reluctant pose than anything.

"Good" the man smiled leaving the paper in a perfect pile on the desk before walking with a confident step round the front to face the boy. Antonio felt some of his anger ebb away slightly; the other seemed so impressive it was a little intimidating "today let's see what you are truly capable of"

"What do you want me to do?" he questioned, itching a little to get started. Seeing this, the other smiled and pulled up a man sat in a seat just behind the blackboard. The man was unidentifiable; he had a bag over his head and sort of stood loosely swaying against the support of the other. The councilman tried to gauge the other's response as he looked at the man.

"Who is this?" he finally asked trying to piece together some form of identification. The councilman let the man go allowing him to somehow stand on his own two feet.

"This man is a volunteer Antonio, I want you to show me what you can do on him" he stepped back and took up a clipboard.

"I…" he faltered hand half raised as he looked over the mystery man "won't it hurt him?"

"No the man is sedated there will be no pain for him" he noted onto his clipboard "now just express your power, if you are having trouble try and draw on your emotions."

A little shakily he raised his hands and tried to will himself to use his power. The volunteer twitch a little.

"Just think about a time when you were angry"

The Spaniard began to try and fuel his actions from the emotion he was given however even after all the times he had felt it, it didn't spark the same reaction, like a weak aftertaste of the main event.

"when it felt like someone had betrayed you, when you were upset beyond all, frustration against an event that makes you want to do anything to feel better"

That stoked the fire that had been slowly going out, strangely enough, the accusation flew straight back into his mind, the look on Lovino's face, the hurt he felt. It was enough to push the boy's conscience away long enough to raise both hands confidently and manipulate the man before him.

It was strange, before when he had done this there had been almost bile up his throat, but when he fed off the negative feelings like now it was an almost giddy sensation instead. It was strange to say the least and only stopped when the councilman raised his own hand.

"That's good Antonio, now you have always manipulated full limbs but have you ever tried just single muscles"

"Just the muscles?" he asked panting a little in anticipation, the lesson was actually shaping up to be a lot of fun. "How do I do that?"

Seeing the eagerness in his student the elder smiled and placed the clipboard down "simple you just need to focus your energy on the area." He unclipped the sheets from the board and showed Antonio sheet showing the muscles of the body "now let's begin shall we?

* * *

A few hours passed and Lovino had gone almost further than the point of caring- right now he just wanting to curl up in some dark corner and sleep the rest of the day away. He'd already tried it a few times but his back refuse to let up as he continued down the hall.

He bumped into someone coming the other way and growling slightly daring the other to mess with him carried on walking out the door at the other end.

The boy he had bumped into was in fact Arthur who was a little more than surprised that the boy growled at him.

"Some people just don't have manners" he muttered as he continued on his way dusting the shoulder in the collision that had been touched by the other. Then he thought about it, he wasn't usually without the lap dog but he hadn't seen him either that day.

A door opening caught the Brit's attention and low and behold Antonio wandered out bidding his tutor goodbye before leaving, there was a brief look between the two but the other was more interested in leaving the opposite way. Arthur wonder for a moment what could be going on between the two he had seen, neither seemed like their idiotic selves and for once he had nothing to do with it.

He came closer to the room and the door being left open he heard something from within.

"…yes I understand but the council refuse to agree"

Curious as ever he came closer to the gap and leant into it best he could. The councilman appeared to be on the phone to an outside source.

"I understand sir, yes I agree the children's only choice is with your organisation…and I think I found a way to convince them of your cause" he seemed pleased with himself "indeed I have an example I am…tutoring right now, if you give me just a little more time with him"

So, it seemed there were some people in school who weren't all they appeared, maybe this would be useful to know. Arthur wasted no time in rushing away and back towards the dorm area.

* * *

Antonio held the diagram in his hand. The lesson was amazing he never figured anything like this before. Suddenly he began to see the lighter side of his ability. He began to imagine what Lovino would think when he stopped himself. He didn't want to think about him right now.

"Bastard!"

The voice made him turn and over the other side of the shrubbery by the path he could see the Italian looking down on him from a wall on the other side. Antonio decided to ignore him, right now was not the best time for them to talk. What he didn't know that Lovino was perched on the wall on his tip toes, balancing in his groggy state, and as the other moved away he tried to move to follow him. He tripped over his feet and slipped from the wall landing on his side and yelling out in pain.

Antonio heard him hit the ground, his heart skipping a beat as the previous thoughts of ignoring him were forgotten and he rushed around the wall and tried to help the boy up. Again he yelled out in pain as he was brought to his feet.

"ah! Lovi what's wrong are you ok?" he fused "are you hurt?"

"my back is being a bitch is all" Lovino whined "now don't just stand there get me to my room!"

Antonio nodded dumbly and help the boy along being his support, his bit his lip and all the way his eyes kept dropping to the autonomy sheet he had been given, each noise of pain drew him closer to a decision.

"you want to do what?" Lovino asked as they sat on the bed.

"I…I can fix your back…with my power" Antonio muttered "it's safe I swear!"

He expected a backlash from the other after the last argument, but Lovino was just nervous, his voice shaking as spoke.

"a-are you sure" he spoke shifting his hands over his shirt "and nothing…bad will happen?"

Antonio was surprised at the response and yet found himself smiling. Lovino was scared, Lovino was terrified, but he didn't want to tell the other he was a monster, or evil, or anything else. Lovino cared enough to go along with it, he cared enough about him. It made him happy.

"I promise…" he whispered. He leant forward and slid his arms around Lovino's waist. The Italian went a beautiful red colour as he buried his head into the other trying to imagine it wasn't as awkward as it seemed in the strange hug.

Suddenly it felt like a massage on his back but one that was a miracle slipping the knots out of his back and peeling away the tension. He became more putty like in the other's arms closing his eyes a little as he was finally able to relax.

"how does that feel?" he asked feeling a large amount of tension along his spine and slowly unwound it feeling the other gasp against him.

"that is amazing…" Lovino hummed as he let Antonio continued "why aren't you a doctor?"

The absent minded comment hit a cord in the Spaniard's head and made him smile. Not all routes led to evil, something's just asking for directions can light the right way.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
